Indium Corporation Blogs

Here is a picture of an Indium Corporation solder flux pen, sectioned to show you the internals.  Who DOESN'T want to see THAT, right?!?

Flux pens are commonly used to accurately supply small amounts of flux to parts before soldering. In the case of hand soldering solar cells, this is the perfect packaging. As you press the flux pen tip (the yellow part in the picture) against your solar cell, the spring-loaded tip assembly moves back into the body of the flux pen, opening the valve and releasing a small amount of flux into the upper chamber. The pen tip, made of a felt material, carries the flux to the outer surface via capillary action. As you move the flux pen tip across the cell metallization, a thin, even trail of flux is deposited on the surface.

Although flux pens are designed for all types of hand soldering/rework applications, the felt tips generally measure 1.5mm x 4.25mm. This size is great for various sizes of tabbing ribbon!

If you’d like to try using flux pens filled with the best tabbing fluxes available, contact us at solar@indium.com

As a primarily METALS materials supplier, we are used to most of our products appearing rather, well, boring. We see many shades of gray!

From solder paste to CIG targets, from solder wire to tabbing ribbon - they're mostly gray!

The indium sulfide (In₂S₃) that we produce for use as a buffer layer in thin film solar cells is quite unlike many of our other products. Visually, it is a bright orange powder or pellet. (The text in the picture is made from indium sulfide powder.) Chemically, it is like many of our other products in our metals and compounds division.

Indium Sulfide is supplied in various forms such as powder, thermal evaporation pellets, or sputtering targets. Since the powder form is very important as a starting material for other forms, we focus on achieving very high purity. We also focus on one other secret detail that helps our customers build better solar cells. (I can’t give everything away, right?)

If you’d like to know more about indium sulfide, feel free to send me an email @ jhisert@indium.com.

While it is important to have at least 10µm of solder on each side of a tabbing ribbon to form a proper solder joint during cell interconnection, more is not always better. What we have found is that thicker solder coatings may provide adequate and consistent solder joints, but at a reduced bond strength.

The test was performed on c-Si cells, with an industry leading flux, and 3 sets of tabbing ribbon with different solder coating thicknesses. The tabbing ribbon was made from the same ribbon stock to minimize any variation between test subjects. The samples were prepared on a Komax X-series tabber/stringer, and the tabbed cells were allowed to rest at ambient conditions for >48 hours after soldering to relieve stresses. Next, the tabbing bonds on each cell were peel tested at 90°F using a XYZTEC Condor 150-3. Average (not peak) bond force values across the cell were recorded. 

We are happy to apply custom solder coating thickness to tabbing ribbon for you.

I hope this helps you make a good decision when you are specifying material.

Shoot me an email!

~Jim

"I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy.  What a source of power!  I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that."

Whether you agree or not, it certainly isn't a surprising statement in this day and age.  Until you know it was said in 1931 by Thomas Edison to Harvey Firestone and Henry Ford.

Edison was quite a visionary.  The 1,093 patents issued to Edison is a record for one person, and, at the height of his work with electricity, he had 106 successful patents.

I saw this quote in the museum on the grounds of Edison's and Ford's winter homes in Fort Meyers, Florida.  Can you imagine that these two guys spent a couple of weeks a year living next door to each other?

While it took nearly 80 years for Edison's vision to build up some steam, today there are numerous companies trying to harness the sun's energy.  And Indium Corporation is working with many of them.

Our line of solar products includes SunTab(TM) PV Tabbing Ribbon, Liquid Tabbing Fluxes, Copper/Indium/Gallium targets and Evaporation Materials for depositing active layers on CIGS cells and Low Temperature Metallization Paste for thin film cells.

When I shared this quote with my solar colleague, Jim Hisert (read his blog) he said, "Imagine Thomas Edison in 2012: charging his Smartphone with a portable thin-film solar panel, lying on the beach thinking of ways to increase conversion efficiency.  I'm sure he would need some custom materials for prototyping - I hope he would call me."

Read Jim Hisert's blog or visit our solar web page for more information on these products.  Or contact Jim Hisert directly at jhisert@indium.com and see if you think he is more like the guy who created this picture or the one pictured on his blog!

Carol

Readers have asked how to visually assess a tabbing ribbon interconnection after a bond test.

This image is a cell that has been bond tested after soldering.

The first indication that you have a good bond is the physical resistance during the bond test. Even if you are peeling the ribbon off by hand, you will still notice if the ribbon jerks as it tears away from the cell. Fluctuation of bond strength may be caused by insufficient or inconsistent tabbing parameters, incomplete fluxing, or even contamination on the tabbing ribbon. If the resistance varies rapidly across the length of the bond, there could be an issue with microcracks. Microcracking of the underlying silicon is usually caused by built-up CTE (Coefficient of Thermal Expansion) stresses from tabbing. The ideal bond will peel apart where the tabbing ribbon meets the metallization, and it will be uniform. It should look like the image seen here.

There are some things you can do before, during, and after tabbing to get a better looking, and higher reliability, tabbing bond.

Before

Consider using alternative tabbing alloys and fluxes. Using Bi-based alloys at lower temperatures will lower the stresses caused by CTE mismatch and help eliminate microcracking. Softer tabbing ribbon can help keep stresses to a minimum as well.

During

Cell tabbing/stringing machines have many adjustable parameters. You owe it to your customers to explore the effects of parameter changes so you know you are building the best modules possible. (If I have time I’ll probably come to your facility to help – all you have to do is ask.)

After

Not everyone has time to wait, but if you have the luxury to let the tabbed cells sit for a day you should notice much better test results. Stresses built up in the silicon are partially relieved after 24-48 hours, which will result in less microcracking.

Let me know if I can help you make some beautiful cell interconnections!

~Jim (jhisert@indium.com)

After the report by Isofoton regarding reliability testing of Bi-based alloys for tabbing ribbon, the world learned that Bi-based alloys could survive the lamination process and function in use. If you haven’t seen it yet, I consider this mandatory reading! Here is the info: B. Lalaguna, P.Sanchez-Friera, I.J. Bennett, L.J. Caballero, J. Alonso, “Evaluation of Bismuth-Based Solder Alloys for Low-Stress Interconnection of Industrial Crystalline Silicon PV Cells", 22^nd EU PVSEC, Milan, 2007Milan, 2007.

We all know the Bi based alloys like 57Bi/42Sn/1Ag and 58Bi/42Sn can be used in a standard module assembly process, but is there an advantage to using Bi/Sn or Bi/Sn/Ag when Sn/Pb and Sn/Pb/Ag alloys are so well known and trusted in the industry?

I’ll give you 3 benefits:

1)    1) Bi/Sn/Ag and Bi/Sn are Pb-Free

2)    2) Bi/Sn/Ag and Bi/Sn are low-temperature alloys, they allow you to lower your tabbing process temperatures

3)    3) When paired with the correct flux and metallization, these Bi alloys form a powerful bond without microcracks (due to the lower process temperature)

Below are results with SunTab^TM ribbon assembled on a Komax X series stringer and tested on a XYZTEC Condor 150-3 bond tester (provided by the respective companies).

You’ll probably notice the lack of y-axis scale – I’m not going to give away all the cool information that easily! Contact me at jhisert@indium.com to learn more.

Here is a list of tricks to help you overcome the issues that can arise while hand soldering silicon-based solar cells (and other applications as well). Some of these ideas are obvious for most, but all the suggestions can help you form a better solder joint - and build a better final product:

 

1)    Use the correct soldering tip. I’ve made the mistake of using an inappropriate solder tip before, and so have many of my customers. It’s a frustrating problem you will only let happen to you once: everything is set up perfectly but nothing will melt, until you notice the solder tip is not the correct size or shape. This has happened to many of my customers who were initially using cone point soldering tips when they were working with 2mm wide solder coated tabbing ribbon. Simply changing the tip to a 2mm wide chisel point made all the difference, and promoted soldering readily. Why such a big difference in performance? The chisel tip allows heat to flow across the ribbon, instead of only heating a single point. More heat flow = more heat in your solder joint.

2)    Pre-tin the soldering iron. Just as an appropriately sized soldering tip will distribute heat across the soldering surface, a bit of molten alloy can help create a thermal interface to maximize heat transfer. Remember to melt a small amount of solder onto the tip of your iron before soldering, and be sure it’s the same alloy you are soldering with. (Leave the custom alloying to us ;)

3)    Consider the alloy you are soldering. All the heat your typical soldering iron can produce will not be enough to melt some of the highest temperature alloys. Be sure to have a good understanding of the alloy you have selected. In some cases with low-temperature alloys (like bismuth or indium alloys), excessive soldering temperature can de-wet the alloy and char low temperature fluxes.

4)    Use the correct flux. Fluxes are quite different, I’ve spent my entire soldering career trying to get that point across. There are fluxes for high temperatures or low temperatures, cleaning with water or not cleaning at all. There are specialty fluxes for specialty alloys and there are fluxes for different soldering surfaces. Use the correct flux. If you don’t know what the best flux for the application is - just ask; that’s what I am here for.

5)    Use a bottom side heater. Silicon is known to pull heat away – that c-Si solar cell that needs to be soldered is a heatsink! Some solder equipment vendors also provide underside heating pads to help prevent excessive heat loss.

6)    Keep your soldering iron clean. That black crud that builds up on your soldering iron tip, it’s not helping you form a good solder joint. Those oxides and charred flux residues can easily be removed by wiping the hot iron across the wet sponge (that should be at your soldering station). A clean tip will lead to better heat transfer, and it will make the fluxes you use more effective.

 

This is the soldering station I use, it’s a PS-900 supplied by OK International. Just about any soldering iron will work, but they won’t all work as well – or come with as good support.

 

I’m still learning all the tricks to hand soldering, so feel free to share any you have learned over the years!

 

~Jim

Typical Tabbing Ribbon Solders

Only a few solder alloys have become common, industry-wide, among solar module assemblers, and those can be pared down into three categories:

• BiSn alloys (58Bi42Sn, 57Bi42Sn1Ag)
• SnPb alloys (63Sn37Pb, 62Sn36Pb2Ag)
• SnAg alloys (96Sn4Ag)

The wetting attributes and reliability of SnPb alloys have long made them an attractive selection, however, in green technologies such as these, Pb-free material selections are preferred. Jim Hisert previously discussed the benefits of BiSn as a low temperature Pb-free solder alternative for tabbing solar cells, so I will touch on the SnAg alternative.

Tin-Silver Solder (SnAg)
SnAg has become the most widely used Pb-free solder alloy, particularly in tabbing ribbon designed for cell interconnection. Historically, its melting temperature (221°C) made it an obvious replacement for processes previously running SnPb solders.

In designs where step soldering is necessary (however uncommon in back end solar module assembly), SnAg can be used as the step previous to soldering with Sn63 or similar Pb-Free solder (albeit carefully since the second soldering temperature is quite near 221C). 

While SnAg eutectic solder is a desirable composition for electronic component soldering, for instance, power semiconductors, recent studies using this alloy for stringing solar modules have indicated that the other common alloys listed for this application are easier to work with and better designed to meet the needs of this solar assembly application.  SnAg does have a high melting temperature, and the preferred fluxes for module assembly are not yet optimized for this solder composition.     

Regardless, SnAg has its benefits.  When a solder that melts somewhat above the melting point of a “standard” solder alloy is needed, and it must be Pb-free, this is it!!  Check it out!

Happy Testing!!

Amanda

Today I received an interesting email that could be useful for my readers. Here goes:

 

“Dear Jim,

 

I saw your recent blog. I am in the process of prototyping a photovoltaic application. I am aware that Indium Corporation has a lead-free alternative for tabbing and bus wire. Can you comment on why the photovoltaic industry, specifically in the US, has not adopted this standard as a better non-toxic solution and what Indium Corporation has done to promote this alternative? I look forward to hearing your point of view!

 

Best Regards,”

 

That’s definitely an important question, what an ice breaker! This was my response:

 

“First of all, thank you for reading the blog and thank you for the thoughtful question.

 

What many people do not realize, is that there are actually a few different types of lead-free alternatives for cell tabbing. The 3 most common alloys for tabbing ribbon are :

• 96.5Sn/3.5Ag
• 57Bi/42Sn/1Ag
• 58Bi/42Sn

 

Here are the main reasons that people stick with Sn/Pb based tabbing ribbon coatings:

 

• Sn/Pb and Sn/Pb/Ag have been extensively proven with many different module designs  
  
• Indium (the metal) based alloys are quite expensive compared to Sn/Pb based alloys
• Sn/Ag melts at a higher temperature range, causing greater expansion of the base copper (and therefore greater coefficient of thermal expansion mismatches).
• Some people fear the melting point of Bi/Sn and Bi/Sn/Ag may be too low for their subsequent processes (such as lamination)

 

The key point I’d like to note is that there are companies currently using each one of these alternative, and finding them feasible in regards to cost and reliability. We promote the use of these alloys - I would personally like to see the 57Bi/42Sn/1Ag alloy take over the market. I like to see my customers making good modules and feeling good about the materials they use too!

 

All the best,

          ~Jim”

 

Later on in the day we discussed the technical aspects of using lead-free alloys and settled on Bi/Sn/Ag and GS-5454 as the go-to materials. It was great to have this conversation with someone focused on conscious material selection and eager to learn more about lead-free options.

What are your thoughts?

As a tech guy, I couldn’t be more excited about testing these 8 different c-Si solar cell / metallization designs!

Why? Well, testing at customer sites is limited to only a few cell types – and, all too often, it does not involve proper pull testing after application of the tabbing ribbon and flux. Testing these 8 lots of cells with our SunTab™ products will give us full reign to optimize parameters for each material set, verify maximum pull strength of each material set, and explore variations in metallization and intermetallic formation after cross-sectioning.

Sounds like fun to me!

~Jim

 

这两年美国的西北部有越来越多的光伏太阳能公司在这里开设工厂，有些公司是前些年在加州硅谷地区把技术研发成功了，然后再把工厂开设在美国西北部（利用这里相对廉价的总成本，和联邦政府和州政府的补贴或投资的政策和条款）

在太阳能板子的组装方面，平时客户们问得最多的就是互联条和汇流带了(tabbing ribbon; bus ribbon)。这两种产品和普通的焊接带有一点区别，它们两一般是镀锡铜带。一般的客户都会有自己对互联条和汇流带的详尽规格说明(specifications)，比如说要求铜的规格是什么，镀锡的合金、厚度、误差范围(tolerance)，成品的宽度、厚度等。其中，与普通焊接带(solder ribbons)特别不同的是，互联条和汇流带一般有以下四点规格要求：

---Camber 曲弧度:简单来说，就是一条线拉直了，曲翘的程度不能超过多少。

---Elongation 延伸率: 一般有最小的百分比要求。

---Yield Strength 屈服强度: 材料开始产生宏观塑性变形时的应力。一般互联条要求的范围值比汇流带要求的范围值会低，毕竟每一段互联条要链接相邻太阳能板子的正反两面，要比较相对容易形变一点。

---Tensile Strength 拉伸强度: 是指材料产生最大均匀塑性变形的应力. 

Indium公司还提供各种太阳能溅射靶材(Sputtering Target)，太阳能低温焊锡膏(metallization paste)。 www.indium.com/solar

 

Pic：Indium Corporation

PS: 卖各种焊接产品给太阳能公司的生意不容易做啊。但是有机会，有潜在客户，总比根本没客户没机会好：-）最近有一个潜在大客户的进展很不错，让我顶着大肚子都往那里跑，常常为它忙乎着：-）

最近拜访了一个正在蓬勃发展的太阳能公司。当它的工艺工程师带我参观他们刚运行起来的太阳能模块组装工厂时(Solar Cell Module Assembling plant)，向我介绍了焊接互联条(tabbing ribbon)的Z-Bend工艺。

光伏太阳能(PV, Photovoltaic )的互联条一般是镀锡铜焊带。 焊接的原理与一般SMT相似，但也不尽相同。 所用的设备就不一样。一般焊接互联带的设备统称叫做Solar Cell Tabbing String Machine (CTS).  目前太阳能公司们常用的设备有这些牌子的： Spire, Komax, Somont, Applied Materials….

Z-Bend主要是互联条在连接相邻太阳能板子的正面与反面时，设备让互联条顺着本面形成一个弯曲的角度，这样可以减缓由于互联条拉紧后对太阳能板子可能产生的压力；压力有可能损伤太阳能板子。

有些公司的设备设计，可以做Z-Bend这个工艺，但是有些设备却不行。这也看太阳能板子的组装是否需要这项工艺。

现在美国这里也有越来越多的家庭在房顶上装太阳能板来发电了。光伏太阳能产业也慢慢走近民用了。

Cheers!

Pic:

1.      Jim Hisert withIndium Corporation

2.      Google Image

PS:

1． Z-Bend看来还是一个很新的词汇。我查了Baidu, Google, Youtube, Wikipedia, 都没有相关Z-Bend的解释链接。

2． 这个太阳能工厂从去年刚开始进行wafer production到现在的solar cell module assembling, 我前后参观了五六次了，还带了许多不同的朋友们去参观。每次都觉得很开眼界。

3． Acknowledge to: Jim Hisert with Indium Corporation  

I’ve been told that sometimes a good headline will include two things that seem to disagree. Using that logic, I’d say “cell interconnection” and “standardization” make a good headline, since there is no unified standardization in the tabbing and stringing process.

My new friends (pictured at right) hope to help change that. Dirk Schade and Cynthia Blank from XYZTEC have agreed to help Indium Corporation and the IPC Solar committee work toward building a standard for tabbing ribbon-to-cell bond strength testing.

XYZTEC is known for their high precision test equipment, which was developed for the semiconductor industry. They have since modified their equipment to handle c-Si cells, and to test the interconnection as well as the mechanical strength of the cells. Check it out here. 

Is there a cell/flux/ribbon/equipment combination that you would like to understand better? Maybe we could test your application!

It was a pleasure interviewing Pat Gallagher, who developed the first automated photovoltaic solar cell tabbing and stringing machine back in 1979. (Before I was even born!) Pat has seen the tabbing industry mature, and he was kind enough to help answer some questions about the process that I’ve grown to love. 

Jim: What were the initial design goals? How have they evolved over the years with customer’s needs?

Pat: Our primary goal was to replace variable hand labor in soldering with a machine and a process. That still holds today. Back then, solar cells were very expensive, thick, brittle, and not very efficient. So the biggest issue was to avoid breaking cells. Our first advice to the cell people was to turn the crystal 45 degrees to the bus bars so that the sides of the cell wouldn't break off along the solder joints. That little trick remains in place today.


Jim: Were the first machines designed to tab and string separately, or in a combined process?

Pat: Our first design was to make strings of cells in one shot. The two-step process, fronts then backs, was a holdover from hand soldering and there was no reason to do that anymore. Surprisingly, however, we ended up accidentally inventing the mechanized tabber on the way to creating a fully automated one-step stringer.

Jim: So that’s where the stand-alone tabber came from! I would have guessed it was the other way around. Have there been any changes to the heating method?

Pat: Oddly, the first thing we tried was induction heating. It was wonderful except that it took 5,000 watts to bring a small solar cell to temperature. It seemed rather wasteful, but that was the smallest industrial RF system available. Then we tried IR light, which also worked well. That's what we used in the first automated system.

Jim: Early tabbing ribbon must have been pretty crude. Have you noted anything that has changed with the copper or solder coating used over the years?

Pat: Basically, it's the same flat conductor that we started with in the 70's. The coating chemistry has changed dramatically. Taking cues from the electronics people, we started with lightly tinned copper and that was it. Solder was introduced on the cell so the ribbon did not need a heavy solder coating as is common now.

No-Lead (Pb-free) has been challenging mostly because the process window is smaller and simply hotter. The cells can be hurt if heat exposure is too long or too fast.

If you’d like to meet Pat (the President of Solar Automation) and learn more, you can email him by clicking here or visit the Solar Automation website.

Jon major recently joined the Indium Corporation as a Product Manager for Solar back-end assembly products. I greeted him with this impromptu interview.

Jim: First of all Jon, welcome. It’s great to have you as a new addition to the team!

 

Jon: Thank you Jim – it’s an exciting time to be at Indium Corporation and a fantastic time to be a part of the growing solar industry. I am extremely enthusiastic about my new position and am looking forward to making a positive contribution to the solar industry.

 

Jim: I noticed it didn’t take you long to get up to speed. Your time in Silicon Valley must have helped.

 

Jon: Coming from the electronics industry with a focus on product development, new product introduction, manufacturing, and external partner management, I am excited that my past experiences can contribute both to the industry and to Indium Corporation. After joining Indium only a few weeks ago, not only am I getting used to Upstate NY weather, but I have been immersing myself in solar with the goal of gaining a comprehensive understanding of:

 

•       Both rigid and thin-film technologies

•       Technology trends

•       Global and regional markets (EU, China, US, North America)

•       Solar supply chain (Silicon, wafers, cells, module, equipment, inverters, integrators)

•       Equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers, and how we can collaborate with them to move the industry forward

•       Our products and pricing

•       Our current and future customers

•       Our short and long term opportunities

•       Our competition

•       Our roadmap

•       Our strengths, weaknesses, and threats

•       Our manufacturing capabilities and our QA process

•       Our sales channels, value proposition, key differentiators

•       All Indium processes

 

Jim: I know you've got solar products on your mind. Let our readers know a little bit more about your role here at Indium?

 

Jon: As a Solar Backend Product Manager I will focus (officially) on the business development and growth of Indium’s Solar Back End product offerings.  Now that sounds great but what does it actually mean? I could cut and paste my official job description but I prefer to explain it in my own words. As I think about the first part of that statement, “business development and growth…”, I see my role as:

 

–      Know the market, the customers, the product, and the competition

–      Develop relationships with the Indium team, reps, partners, equipment manufacturers, and, of course, customers

–      Write valuable data sheets, publications, and sales literature

–      Listen to our customers' needs and provide solutions

–      Manage schedules and orders with minimal surprises

–      Build cross-functional collaboration (sales, distribution, marketing, engineering, R&D, QA, production, management)

–      Never let down partners or customers

–      Support all functions of the organization, both internal and external

–      Deliver above & beyond commitments

–      Make great bets – on technology, customers, and opportunities

–      Understand the product life-cycle

–      Ship high quality, consistent product

 

The second part of that statement “..of Indium’s Solar Back End product offerings” is fairly straightforward. Of course this means I will focus on Indium’s current back end products (tabbing ribbon, bus ribbon, metallization paste (or as I prefer to call it – “grid ink”), flux and flux cored wire). With a product development background, this also means I have an opportunity to work with customers, partners, and R&D to develop and bring new products to market that will advance the module assembly industry – very exciting for me personally.

 

Ultimately, I think of my role as both building awareness of Indium’s products and superior technical support available to our customers as well as helping to shape our growing industry.

 

Jim: Okay Jon, you’ve had a while to settle in and get familiar with our Solar Team’s past and present – what are you planning for the future of module assembly?

 

Jon: Regarding the future of module assembly it’s a bit early to know for sure but I am excited about our low-temperature bismuth-containing alloys. These low temperature, lead-free, bismuth-containing alloys reduce the soldering process temperatures, thus reducing thermal stresses. I’m also working with the Indium production team to further reduce our tabbing and bus ribbon yield strength. A lower yield strength will reduce mechanical stress on cells during the assembly process. This is crucial to minimizing the possibility of microcracks and cell breakage during the solar module assembly process.

 

In closing, having lived in California for the last 10 years, I am not 100% familiar with our Upstate New York climate, and especially not all the snow shoveling. I see in my future a solar powered driveway heater!

 

Jon can be reached at jmajor@indium.com

Since I couldn’t find a good beginners guide to c-Si metallization paste, (not even from Wikipedia) I thought I’d provide an explanation of this important module assembly material:

 

The silicon solar cell has a low-temperature glass-frit paste applied to the active surface. This combination of glass, Ag, and other binder materials is printed onto the solar cell and fired around 850-1000degC to form the solderable metallization on the cell. This glass-silver mixture recombines during the firing process to break through the passivation/antireflective coating layer on the cell and form a strong bond to the cell. During firing the glass and silver are suspended in a mixture with silver forming an electrically conductive path from the top to the bottom of the deposit – and ideally a silver-rich layer is formed on top. This silver is the surface that tabbing ribbon is soldered onto when interconnecting cells.

 

Because the structure of the glass-silver is formed in the firing process, the firing can impact the solderability of the final metallization. That is the reason it is so important to determine the bond strength and diffusion/intermetallic formation of the interface between the cell metallization and tabbing ribbon solder coating.

 

Now here’s my challenge to you:

If you know of another good description, post a link to the document in the comments field below!

 

Thanks,

          ~Jim H.

This week I recieved a package with a video camera and all the accessories that I'd need to post video blogs from Solar Power International next week. The first of these SPI video blog posts can be seen here. I'll let you watch the video to learn what I'm looking foward to at SPI 2010, but I gotta say in addition --> thank you to SPI for sending out these cameras to help capture the action at the show.

Our crate of targets, tabbing ribbon, literature, and other display items has been shipped off to LA., and our crew will be flying there soon. Our team will be there to meet up with you if you're in the area. Come see us at both 632 in the West Hall!

~Jim

Sure, you could buy some dirt-cheap tabbing ribbon off ebay.

 

If you want some very awesome solder-coated ribbon and you won’t be laminating your panels over 100°C – I have a much better option for you.

 

The Indium Corporation makes ultra-low temp tabbing ribbon (melts ~100°C). The advantage? You can use a standard soldering iron and solder solar cells much more quickly because the solder melts more rapidly.

 

Note: I advise using GS-5454 flux – it may be the only flux that promotes wetting onto the cell as quickly as you’ll be soldering!

 

Click here to get a hold of this stuff!

 

The picture above is some of my private stock that I use for testing at work. The picture below is how we package spools – way better than the no-name ball of crinkled ribbon you sometimes get from stock vendors online.

 

Happy tabbing!

~Jim

When was the last time you were in your favorite store and headed toward your favorite aisle only to find that they have rearranged everything?  Of course, they do that to attract your attention to different items, but it is only for their benefit.

At Indium. we have made some changes on our e-commerce site but these are for your benefit.  We summarized the solder wire, solder ribbon and research kit options so you can more easily find a solution to your application. 

The solder ribbon and solder wire sections give a summary of the available alloys and the prime characteristics to help you home in on the proper alloy.  The research kit section has had like kits grouped together into solder, thermal management, plating, solar tabbing and NanoFoil options.

And, because budgets are tight, but the work still has to be done, we have lowered the prices on the individual solder wire and ribbon options and added a 10ft wire option.  You can still buy the research kits that have multiple items at a great price, but if you have narrowed down your choice to that one best option, you can test it for less than $100.00.

If you need a little extra help in determining the best solution, we have a lot of ways for you to contact us:
1) Live Chat (see our home page)
2) Askus@indium.com
3) Regional technical support personnel
4) esolders@indium.com
5) Call us at 1-315-853-4900 or 1-800-446-3486

I’ve been pulling some products together for the InterSolar tradeshow in July, and a thought occurred to me: “these tabbing ribbon kits for solar panel assembly are so interesting, I know someone at the show is going to want one”. If you’ve been in a booth at a tradeshow before it’s probably happened to you too – someone may have asked you for one of your display items, last pieces of literature, or maybe some ancillary equipment that you had at your booth. For argument sake, let’s say it’s the only sample of a hot new product at your booth, and the customer wants to purchase it with cash and walk away with it on the spot. (Equipment guys have been known to frequently sell the equipment they had brought to the show, but they send the machine after the show is over.) So what do you do if someone wants to purchase the item you have on display?   

 

A second question from a different perspective: as a customer, how would you feel if the vendor wouldn’t sell that one display item that you’d like to leave the show with?

By the way: if you're at Intersolar this year, stop by and say 'hi' - and let me know your opinion about the tabbing / bus ribbon kit.